Lubricator



,July 23, 1942' E. s. MILLER 2,291,483

LUBRICATOR Filed Dec. 18, 1939 VINVENTOR. Fig. 5 "Ernest LSIMI'ZZrATTORN Patented July 28, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LUBRICATORErnest S. Miller, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to The Pure Oil Company,Chicago, 111., a corporation of Ohio Application December 18, 1939,Serial No. 309,894

3 Claims. This invention relates to an improved lubricating device forlubricating shafts, journals, gudgeons and the like.

In the lubrication of journals, shaftsand other I depend on capillaryaction of the device to supply liquid lubricant to bearing surfaces. Itis with this type of lubricating device that this invention is primarilyconcerned.

Probably the oldest and best known method of supplying lubricant tobearing surfaces by capillary action is the use of masses of wool yarneither alone or mixed with cotton waste or other materials having athread-like structure and saturated with the fluid lubricant to beapplied. The use of such material is reasonably cheap and effective formany applications, although the cost of the wool yarn may be rather highif the wool yarn is used alone or in a mixture with cotton waste inwhich the wool yarn is preponderant. However, there are severaldisadvantages inherent in this type of lubrication. Any rough surface orprojection on a revolving journal or shaft which is lubricated withlubricant supplied by contact with a packing of oil-soaked wool yarnand/or cotton waste is likely to engage one or more of the threads ofthe packed mass and wrap it around the journal, thus either fouling thejournal or causing the loosely packed mass to become tightly packedagainst one side of the journal. When yarn becomes packed into a tightwad against a revolving surface, the yarn will rapidly become glazed andhard on that portion that is adjacent the revolving surface andlubricant will cease to flow through the glazed portion to the surfaceto be lubricated. Excessive bearing temperatures are also incurred.These lead to lubrication failures with resulting injury to themechanism being lubricated.

Another disadvantage of lubricating frictionally engaged surfaces bymeans of oil-soaked yarn packing is that there is very little controlover the amount of lubricant supplied to the journal, the amount oflubricant present in the packed mass of wool yarn. There is a furtherdifficulty in maintaining packed masses of wool yarn at all times i ncontact with the surface to which lu- Some of the better known yarn sotight as to cause undue friction against the moving surface and/ orglazing and hardening of the portion of the yarn which contacts themoving surface. In the event the yarn packing fails to contact themoving surface, complete failure of lubricant supply results.

It is an object of this invention .to provide a simple and practicaldevice for continuously feeding liquid lubricant direct to movingsurfaces to be lubricated.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improvedlubricating packing having a greatly reduced tendency to mat or glazeand which will last indefinitely.

It; is a further object of this invention to provide an improvedlubricating device by which the feed of lubricant to journals may bereadily controlled.

Other objects of this invention willappear from the followingdescription thereof and from inspection of the accompanying drawingwhich forms a part of this specification and in which Figure 1represents the top view of one form of a device in accordance with theinvention;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line 2-2 of Figure1 and includes a conventional lubricant reservoir; and

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section of a conventional journal andjournal box showing an application of a device in accordance with theinvention. I

Referring more particularly to the device illustratedin Figures 1 and 2,the numeral ll represents a rectangular shaped sponge. This sponge maybe a natural sponge or a synthetic cellulose sponge or any other type ofsynthetic sponge capable of absorbing and retaining fluid lubricant,such as mineral oil and mineral oils compounded with various additives,in a manner substantially the same as that exhibited by syntheticcellulose sponges. Synthetic cellulose sponges are preferable because ofthe readiness with which fluid lubricants are absorbed and retained, andbecause of the availability of the synthetic sponges in various sizesand shapes which may be adapted to conform to any bearing surface orlubricant reservoir. Strands of wool, l3, or of some other fibrousmaterial capable of collecting and carrying lubricant, such as cotton orjute, are laced through the sponge for the purpose of collecting andconveying lubricant from the sponge and/or a lubricant reservoir to thefrictionally engaged bricantis to be supplied, without packing the woolsurfaces. The yarn may be inserted into the sponge in various ways, butit has been found that the simplest and most effective manner compriseshaving continuous loops of yarn laying fiat against the sponge on theside which is placed in contact with the surface requiring lubricant andthe opposite ends of the strands of yarn dangling free from another sideof the sponge, preferably in contact with a supply of lubricant. Whilethere are a number of fibrous materials available for this purpose, woolis generally preferred because of its availability and because itreadily and quickly transmits fluid lubricant longitudinally of thestrands. The ends I5 of the strands may project beyond the sponge asuitable distance and dip into fluid lubricant I! in lubricant reservoirl8. The top portions IQ of the strands are preferably continuous in theform of loops and when in use are in contact with the surface to belubricated. In order to minimize the tendency of the yarn to foul thebearing, the loops may be made to lie contiguous with the surface of thesponge.

' Referring more particularly to Figure 3, a conventional journal isindicated at 2|, a journal box at 23 and a top bearing brass and cradleframe generally at 25. In operation the journal rotates and in so doingit contacts the top portion of the sponge and the top continuousportions I9 of the strands l3 and in this way is continuously wettedwith fluid lubricant from the reservoir II. The rate at which lubricantis supplied to a surface may be varied within rather wide ranges bysimply varying the diameter and number of strands which are lacedthrough the sponge. While it is possible to have the ends I9 of thestrands l5 severed and still feed lubricant to the bearing surface, theopportunity for fouling the bearing surface by having loose ends incontact therewith is greatly increased and it is therefore preferable tohave the portions of the yarn that are in contact with the bearing,continuous. Operation of this device may be accomplished without aseparate oil reservoir, the sponge itself acting as an oil reservoir,but in this case more frequent manual attention is required in order tomaintain an adequate supply of the lubricant in the sponge in order thatthe rate of feed of the lubricant will remain reasonably constant. Inthe latter case it is unnecessary that the ends l5 project beyond thesponge. It is also possible to feed lubricant to the hearing surfaceswithout the aid of fibrous strands of material laced through the sponge,particularly when construction permits mounting the sponge on the topside of the journal to be lubricated. In the latter case a plentifulsupply of lubricant is maintained in the sponge by manual additions oflubricant and the lubricant feeds by gravity through the capillarysystem of the sponge to the surface to be lubricated. However, even inhis case vastly superior results may be obtained by having a few strandsof wool yarn or other suitable fibrous material laced through the spongein the manner indicated. This result is apparently due to co-actingcapillary characteristics of the sponge and yarn whereby fluid lubricantin the sponge is gathered by the yarn and greatly augments the rate atwhich lubricant may be supplied to a bearing surface. This feature is ofstill greater importance when the sponge is below the hearing surfacesince in this case the ability of the sponge alone, that is. without theaid of gravity or yarn, to feed lubricant to a bearing surface, isgenerally inadequate for proper lubrication.

Since synthetic cellulose sponges are admirably suited for use in thisdevice, it is possible to have sponges supplied in a wide variety ofshapes and sizes, thus having the sponges conform to the contour of thebearing surface and/or to the contour of the oil reservoir. The inherentelasticity possessed by sponges is such that the sponge may be readilycompressed for packing against a bearing or other moving surface and theforce exerted by the sponge tending to reassume its natural shape issufficient to maintain the sponge against the bearing surface. It isapparent that natural sponges may be cut to various shapes and sizes butthis is an expensive and time-consuming procedure. In

order to utilize smaller sponges or to supplement the natural tendencyof the sponge to expand against the surfaces to be lubricated, springsmay be used in order to hold the sponge more firmly against the bearingsurface.

The aforementioned lubricating devices are readily installed and areadaptable to a wide variety of installations. The remarkable resistanceof sponges to wear, under the conditions of use described, makes suchdevices even more economical than the wadded packings of wool yarn andcotton waste which have found extensive use in the lubrication ofbearing surfaces in the past. Furthermore the sponges have little or notendency to foul the surfaces against which they are held in contact.The amount of wool yarn required for adequate lubrication varies betweenrather wide limits depending on such factors as the amount of lubricantrequired and viscosity of the lubricant. In one particular example 7strands of wool yarn of approximately at" diameter laced through acellulose sponge in an area of approximately 3 square inches was foundentirely adequate to supply lubricant to a journal.

Wherever the word sponge is used in this specification it is meant toinclude natural sponges, synthetic cellulose sponges and any other typeof synthetic sponge that exhibits substantially the same absorbentproperties for mineral lubricating oil as synthetic cellulose sponges.Similarly, yarn is intended to include any spun or woven fibrousmaterials such as cotton, silk, jute, etc.', or mixtures of thesematerials, which exhibit substantially the same capability of collectingand carrying mineral lubricating oil as ordinary wool yarn.

Various modifications in details and arrangements will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without departing from the scope of theinvention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is;

l. A device of the character described consisting of a syntheticcellulose sponge having strands of yarn interlaced therethrough in suchmanner that yarn projects from opposite sides of said sponge, free endsof the yarn freely projecting from one side and the yarn projecting fromanother side in the form of loops which are contiguous to the sponge.

2. An article of manufacture consisting of a sponge having strands ofyarn interlaced therethrough at spaced intervals and continuous portionsof said yarn projecting from said sponge at a plurality of spacedpoints.

3. An article in accordance with claim 2 where the projecting portionsof yarn project from only one side of the sponge in the form ofcontinuous loops and from the opposite side in the form of free ends.

- ERNEST S. MILLER.

